Fringe of Death
by SpykerNova
Summary: Pokemon now takes a realistic turn into the real world. It takes place in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of America in the year 2062. Pokemon have actually been created due to experiments and genetic engineering. The story follows Ron (Pikachu), Clara (Pikachu), and Spike (Poochyena), as they try to discover why they were created, by whom, and who they themselves once were.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

He opened his eyes. He observed his surroundings, at first realizing that he was in a glass tube of some sort, filled with water. The rest of the room was bright white, filled with computers, other glass tubes and white chairs. There was a device attached to his mouth so he could breathe. _I need to get out of this place… _He thought. There were some kinds of white chains attached to his wrists but also attached to the glass on the inside of the tank. With all of the strength he could gather, he pulled on the chains as much as he could, but to no avail.

Then just when he was about to give up, he gave one final pull and heard a cracking noise. He looked up to his right and noticed that where the chain connected to the tank, there was a metal circle, and out of one part sprouted a small crack in the glass. With a look of triumph, he pulled more and more until that one crack grew and even more formed. A few cracks formed on the other side as well. Pulling on the chains more, the cracks grew to an immense size. The water started to leak out as the glass made a slight creaking noise. With one more powerful jerk, the glass shattered, spreading chunks of it everywhere and water all over the floor of the laboratory. He looked around nervously, to see if there was anyone around or if any alarms went off. Only silence. He ripped off the device from his mouth and looked around the room for anything useful. There were a few desks near the back of the room.

He smashed the chains attached to his wrists on the hard metal edge of a desk, and they broke surprisingly easily. He went rummaging through the desks. Everything in the desk was papers that had no importance. Then something caught his eye. It was his reflection in the desk. He was a small yellow creature with long ears that pointed straight up with black tips on the ends, had two small red circles on his cheeks, and a zigzag shaped tail. "What… Am I?" He whispered to himself. He opened another drawer, and inside was an L shaped metal device with a hole in one end and a trigger in the inside corner. He held onto it just in case. He pulled open the last drawer in the desk. Inside were 3 identification cards. A picture of him was on one of them, another had someone that looked like him but had a strange heart-like shape at the end of its tail. The last one had a grey wolf-like being on it with yellow and red eyes and its face had darker grey fur on it. Each card had a single name on it. The one for the grey creature was marked "Spike". The one for the creature like him but with the different looking tail was marked "Clara". And the one for him was marked "Ron".

There was nothing else in the drawer but those three cards, and a stack of others that were blank. His name was Ron. He was pathetically grateful for the small amount of information.

An alarm suddenly rang out in a loud whine, and three red spinning lights started working in the room. Shocked from the alarms, Ron quickly spun around and started running towards a hallway where he hoped an exit would be. On his way over, he noticed something that made him stop suddenly. Two more tanks, right next to the broken one he was trapped in contained the beings he saw on the cards that were in the desk. They also had water breathing devices on their mouths, but no chains on their wrists. The one named Clara had her eyes closed and probably wasn't conscious. The one named Spike was awake though, and his eyes met Ron's. His paws were up against the glass and he had a sad look.

Ron was in a lot of pressure. He could escape by himself, or rescue those who were in the same situation as him and couldn't get out for themselves. He had no clue how to break them out of the thick glass tubes though, and time was running out. A loud female computer voice got his attention. "Warning: uncontained experimental life form in sector three. Tank 34972 has been breached." Spike pointed at something behind Ron, and he looked. A stool sat in front of a desk and was not fixed to the floor like all the other chairs were. It was his only chance. Ron quickly ran over and picked up the metal stool, then ran back, gestured Spike to duck, and threw it at the tank. The glass broke instantly due to the top of the stool being thick metal. The stool landed off to the side. Spike walked out after the water drained and pulled off the water breathing device and chucked it aside. He started running towards the hallway but stopped. "Come on! Let's go!" He urged. But Ron was still and staring at the unconscious Clara, who had no clue what was going on. "She's coming with us!" Ron yelled. He picked up the stool once more, and smashed the bottom of the tank. It only cracked a lot at first, and then the glass just fell and the water drained out. Clara was still unconscious when he picked her up. "Ok, let's blow this popsicle stand!" shouted Spike.

Ron, carrying Clara, and still with the L shaped object in one of his hands, followed Spike down the long hallway. There weren't any guards anywhere. The entire place seemed abandoned. "Where is everybody?" Ron asked. "Who knows?" Spike replied. "They could be out to lunch or something, but hey, I'm not complaining." The hallway split into two, and Ron and Spike looked at each other worriedly. The alarm was still sounding, with red lights flashing all the way down the hall. If they were to get out, they had to do it fast, and both hallways looked like they went on forever. "Go left!" Spike shouted as he started down the left hall. Ron quickly began to follow him. "How can you be sure this is the way?" he asked. "I don't really know but… I just have this… Instinct, I guess. Trust me!" Having only just met Spike, Ron didn't really know if he should trust him, but Spike seemed to know what he was doing anyways. They were a good distance down the hall when they noticed them.

They were tall beings in black, shiny, armor-like clothes. They carried long black items and had helmets on and reflective goggles covered their eyes. Ron and Spike noticed them just in time to hide behind a large trash can on the side of the hall. There were maybe ten of them at most. The guards ran past, and turned to the other hallway where Ron and Spike came from. They both made a sigh of relief. "Well, so much for them being out to lunch..." Spike said bitterly. They headed down the hall where the guards were a moment ago. There were two more hallways. On the right, a shorter hall than the one on the left, only this one had a dark grey metal door at the end. There was a line that went straight through the middle horizontally, and on top and below the line were black and yellow danger stripes. "This must be the way out. Or one of them at least, but how do we open the door?" Ron asked. "Not sure..." Spike said. "But it looks like there's a control panel on that wall next to the door, so maybe one of the controls opens it."

Ron went up to the control panel, and propped Clara up against the wall. She was still unconscious, but alive. Ron looked over the control panel and hoped that to open the door; it wouldn't require a password or a security clearance card. He was lucky. All that needed to be done was a lever pulled to release the lock, and then a red button pushed to start the opening of the door. The door was opening very slowly, but then it stopped opening altogether. "It's jammed!" Ron shouted. "There's some gears exposed in the wall." Spike replied. "Maybe there's something lodged in them and preventing the door from opening... I'll check." Ron looked to his left down the hallway opposite to the door and noticed something that almost made him jump. Somewhat far down the other hallway, was another group of guards. They obviously spotted Ron and Spike. There was one in the middle running towards them, who looked different than the others, and wore a long black trench coat. "I think I'm close..." Spike said. He sounded strained, like maybe some gears inside were scraping and cutting his arm. "Hurry!" Ron yelled. "There's another group of guards coming!" "I'm going as fast as I can!" Spike answered. Ron looked at the L shaped metal object in his hand. Whatever it was, he had to find a way to use it. The guards were closer than before now, and time was quickly diminishing. "Got it!" Spike said, pulling a rusty metal bar out of the gap in the wall. The gears started moving and the top and bottom of the door began to separate. The guards were even closer now, and would be there soon. With almost no hesitation, Ron picked up Clara and carried her out the door, with Spike following.

The door was fully open now, and they were just outside of the door when the guards reached the area near the control, panel. The guards and the man in the black trench coat all stopped. Ron slowly laid Clara on the ground. The man in the trench coat gave Ron a cold glare. Ron returned the glare, and almost without even looking where he was pointing it, he pointed the L shaped object at the control panel and pulled the curious trigger. A loud bang rang out as the bullet pierced the control panel. Ron was still holding the man's hateful stare as the destruction of the control panel forced the door to close in an ear shattering slam. "Who was that dude with the long coat...?" Spike asked. "I don't know..." Ron answered. "But I have a feeling we'll be seeing him again..."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Ron picked up Clara once again, and spun around. They were in a city. But something didn't seem right with the place. Abandoned apartments dotted the streets, freeways crumbled overhead, and old rusty husks of vehicles were all over the dry, cracked roads. "Where... are we?" Ron said. "I wish I knew..." answered Spike. "Well, we should get as far away from the laboratory building as we can." Ron said, still exhausted from all the running they did out of the place. "Alright, but we better get going fast, I doubt they'll give up just because a door closed between us." Said Spike as he started walking down the road rather quickly, with Ron following. They both walked on two legs, which was odd because they looked like the type of creatures to walk on all fours. "Yeah... Alright... I just wish she'd wake up..." Ron said with disappointment, darting his eyes back at Clara as he carried her along, with the water breathing device still on her mouth.

Spike stopped in his tracks and turned around. Ron stopped and looked at Spike, wondering why he quit walking suddenly. "What did you find in that desk anyway? And how did you shut that door?" Spike was curious about the object, and hoped that Ron knew what it was. "I don't know..." Ron said while looking at it. "I guess I just... Remember it somehow... Like I've used one before. I think... I think it's a gun." Spike stared at him in disbelief. "Well, at least you got a way to defend yourself." Spike said with a dull attitude. They both resumed walking. "Anything else?" He asked. "There is one more thing..." Ron replied. "I found some small cards. There were three of them and each one had a picture of each of us. We have names." "No way!" Spike said, suddenly happy. "What's mine?" Ron told him. "Your name is Spike... Mine is Ron... And hers is Clara." Spike looked proud of himself, rubbing his chin with his hand-like paw. "Spike huh? ...I like it." He said with a smirk. "Although it would be a lot easier to travel if 'Clara', over there wasn't enjoying an afternoon nap." Ron chuckled slightly. "Yeah... I hope she wakes up soon."

They were walking for a while in the deserted crumbling city. They both wondered what had happened here. There was nobody around at all, and the city seemed to stretch for miles. There wasn't even any grass within sight, and where there wasn't cracked road or sidewalk there was only hardened dirt. They walked up to a corner of the road that had an empty apartment on the inside corner. "Should we go inside here? I'm getting tired of walking, and my legs feel like they're going to snap in two." Spike complained. "Yeah, let's go inside." Ron said with a sigh. "We can rest in there and it's possible that Clara will wake up while we do." Spike moved his head through the doorway, taking a look around before he set foot in the first room. "Ok, the coast is clear..." He signaled. Ron went into the room and set Clara down on a couch, and he sat down beside her. Ron let out a tired sigh as he relaxed on the soft furniture. Spike sat down beside him. There was a television about five or so feet away from where they were sitting. "Hmm... That's odd..." Ron said aloud, almost meaning not to. "What's odd?" Spike said, not even looking at Ron because he was very relaxed on the couch, and didn't really want to move yet. "That's... A television..." Ron said, astonished. "Yeah, so?" Spike asked. "How did we not know what a gun was or what it did, but we know what a T.V. is? Better yet, how did we not even know our own names until I read those cards?" Spike's eyes widened. "Yeah... That is pretty weird." "And more importantly," Ron started. "Why were we in those glass containers?" "I wish I knew more..." Spike said, with confusion clear in his voice. "But I only remember waking up a few times before... The room was almost always empty when I did... It was awful in there... I was already awake for a few hours, then I saw you bust out of that tank. I didn't have chains, so I couldn't break out the way you did. I was hoping you saw me, and you did. And yeah... I feel kind of rude for not saying this, but thanks. For saving me. And saving Clara. I'm sure she would thank you now too, if she was conscious."

Spike looked over at Clara. "Uhh... It really wasn't a problem..." Ron began. "Well it might not have been," Spike said with a reassuring attitude. "But you didn't have to. Yet you did. I'm just glad to be out of there... I was already planning to escape; I just never had the energy." "I'm glad to be out of there too..." There was exhaustion still in Ron's voice. Clara coughed a few times suddenly, and Ron and Spike both looked at her curiously. She then stopped coughing but remained unconscious. "She'd better wake up soon... We may have to run more, and my arms are really sore from carrying her all the way here." Ron said. "Don't worry; we may be able to rest here for quite a while. Maybe even live here if we have to. All I know is that they haven't come to capture us, so it looks like we're safe... For now." Spike said as he stood up, stretching his back. "Should we look around this building to see if there's anything useful?" Ron asked. "Couldn't hurt." Spike replied.

Ron wasn't really confident about finding anything that may be of use to them. The only things in the living room were a couch, a television, and a small table flipped on its side with a wine glass nearby shattered into pieces on the dark carpet. "But what about... her?" Spike asked as they started to head out of the room into what appeared to be the kitchen of the lower apartment. "Personally, I think she'll be fine. You even said that we're probably safe, and you're most likely right. There weren't any guards or cars coming after us when we got outside. I still wonder why that is..." Ron scratched his head. "What if she wakes up while we're looking around? What is she going to think? She'll most likely run away, actually." Spike replied. "Then it looks like one of us is going to have to stay here." Ron said, turning back to Spike, who had already sat back down on the couch beside Clara. Spike had a look of annoyance on his face as he said "Fine, I'll go... But you go next time." He got up off of the couch and walked past Ron into the kitchen. Ron slowly walked over to the couch and sat down beside Clara. "Please... Wake up..." He whispered.

Spike wandered around the kitchen looking for whatever he could find that was actually useful. The room was almost empty. The only things in the room were an old refrigerator, a damaged wooden table, and a counter with a broken sink and a toaster broken into a few pieces. The refrigerator made a low humming noise and Spike realized that they had electricity. "Well what do you know? Electricity. Something useful already. How do I know what electricity is though...? I don't remember anything before being in that lab but I know electricity... Ugh... This is all so confusing. I'll think about this crap later." He said to himself quietly.

There was a narrow hallway next to the fridge, and he decided to explore it. The hallway had a room on the left and one on the right. Neither of the rooms had windows. Spike went into the right one first. No lights were on, so it was fairly dark in the room, but Spike could still see a little because of a small crack in a wall. He found a light switch on the wall next to the doorway in the room and flicked it upwards. Nothing. No light came on anywhere. "Great..." Spike said, making a sigh afterwards. He wandered into the room a little, but there wasn't really anything even in the room, or at least not that he could see. There were a few empty cardboard boxes, and a broken electric fan, but that was it. Spike turned around and walked back through the doorway into the hall and went into the second room. This one didn't have a crack in the wall, so it was pitch black. The smell in the room was so horrible, his eyes started to water. "Ugh... Holy shit, that stinks." He said, plugging his nose. "I think I should look in this room later... or at least when I have a light source and a gas mask."

The hall ended where the two rooms were across from each other. Spike walked back through the hall, into the kitchen, and through the doorway of the living room where Ron was waiting anxiously. "Find anything?" He asked, hopeful. "Well, one thing." Spike began. Ron looked at him in surprise. "The refrigerator is running which obviously means we have electricity here." "Good, we have power. But was there anything in those rooms down that hallway near the fridge?" Ron asked, still disappointed that Spike found nothing else. "Only a few empty boxes in one, and I don't know about the other one yet. It's too dark in there. The first room had a crack in the wall so I could see a little bit in there, but the other one didn't so unless I get a light source, it'll be impossible to see anything in the room. It smelled awful in there too. Not sure if I really want to see what's in it." Spike sounded as though he already had seen what was in it. But the smell of whatever it was proved to be almost just as bad. "There's quite a bit of food still in the fridge and it looks ok, like maybe someone was living here for a while, but then just left abruptly." Spike said as he walked over to where the entrance of the apartment was.

There was a staircase they had not noticed when they came in, or maybe they had just forgotten it was there. "I'll check upstairs for anything too... If there's someone up there sleeping in a bed, they're certainly gonna get an unexpected wake up call." Ron laughed a little and rested his head on the back of the couch. Spike walked up the stairs, curious about what could be on the upper floor. A few minutes passed, and Ron decided to have a look outside.

He took a few steps into the harsh sunlight and looked around. There was a garage on the side of the apartment. _Might as well check it out... _He thought. A steel door with rust on it here and there covered where the opening should be. He tried using the handle at the bottom but it fell off into pieces in his hands. "Son of a bitch..." He muttered. There was a gap between the bottom of the door and the cracked concrete, so he reached down and grabbed the bottom of the rusted steel door. He pulled the door up, but it seemed to be stuck, almost not moving at all. Then a few chunks of rust fell from the sides onto the ground and the door slid all the way up and stayed locked in place when it reached the top of its doorway. Ron stared, shocked at what was in front of him in the garage. "Maybe we're not as screwed as I thought..." He whispered.

Upstairs was another hallway, a bit wider than the one downstairs, and this one had four rooms instead of two. Spike started at the first room on the left, but there was nothing inside but junk. The room across from that had a bed in it. Luckily, nobody was in it. "I think I know where I'm gonna have to sleep tonight." He said as he went to the second room on the right. There was nothing in this room either, just some metal scraps sitting in a pile. Nothing useful was in the pile. Spike went over to the last room upstairs. He looked around. Nothing was in this one either. Then he noticed a lone box in a corner of the room. He walked over to it, cautious about what may be inside. He still thought it was empty, but wanted to see for sure if it was or not. He was close enough to see in the box but it looked as though there wasn't anything inside. He took a step closer and noticed something shine. He bent down over the box and peered inside. Inside of the box lay a long black shotgun, sitting next to eight boxes of shotgun shells. "Hello..." He said with a greedy look on his face. "This must be another type of one of those guns Ron was talking about... Hole on one end, kind of L shaped, with a trigger on the inside part... oh yeah, this is a gun. Perfect... I think I should show this to Ron." He carried the shotgun in the box with the ammunition downstairs. He noticed Ron wasn't on the couch but Clara was so he stepped outside.

He saw Ron standing in front of the garage so he walked over to him, and when he was close to Ron, he didn't even bother to look in the garage for some reason. "Hey, look what I found!" Spike said, proudly. He held the shotgun up out of the box, and Ron saw it. "Oh... cool." He said. "What's with the dull attitude?" Spike asked, sounding a little annoyed. "Um..." Ron started nervously. "What?" Spike asked him. "Have you even noticed _that?!"_ Ron said, still astonished. "Seen wh-" Spike stopped talking when he looked into the garage.

They both stood there in awe of what was contained within the cracked walls of the garage. "What the..." Spike said as they both gazed at the shiny black car. Then a sound to their right caught their attention. They both looked over and noticed Clara standing a bit far out of the doorway staring at them, the water breathing device no longer on her mouth. "Who... are you?" She asked.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

They were all in the living room which was now dimly lit. Ron and Spike were surprised that Clara even stayed and didn't try to run away or think that they were enemies. They calmly explained everything they knew to her. About the escape, the apartment and what they found in it, along with a bit of information on how they found it strange that they knew certain things, like what a television is. Even though they didn't know what their own names were until Ron found the cards. "So... I'm Clara...?" She asked. She appeared to have a look as if she was someone who was afraid of almost anything. "That's right." Spike said, relaxing on the couch with his arms folded and one leg crossed over the other. Clara was almost identical to Ron.

She was different only by the heart shape at the end of her zigzag tail, slightly bigger eyes, and a slightly larger tuft of fur on her upper chest. After nobody talked for a few minutes, Ron got rid of the unnatural silence in the room. "Well... We should figure things out." Ron stood up. He had hoped that standing up may give him a more important look, like maybe he was in charge, and it somewhat worked. "What do you mean by that?" Spike asked, looking over. Clara glanced at Ron for a brief moment, but she was still scared so she looked down at the carpet after a few seconds. "What I mean is that we don't even know who we are, or even... what we are." Spike stared back at the T.V. "And how exactly would we figure that stuff out?" Ron couldn't think of a way. "I don't know... Let's just brainstorm a little. See what we can come up with." Ron sat back down on a chair he had brought in from the kitchen. "For example... How do we not remember absolutely anything from our past, but when it comes to other things like T.V. or cars, we remember those? It just... doesn't make sense."

Spike looked back at Ron again. "Good luck with your brainstorming, 'cause I got nothing." Clara remained silent. "Clara, do you have any ideas?" Ron asked her hopefully. She looked up at Ron and was silent for a moment, but then she spoke. "They... erased certain parts of our memory, maybe...?" That thought hit Ron like a bus. "Hey, yeah... That's gotta be it!" Clara managed a small smile. Spike's eyes were closed, but he was awake. "Yay." He said sarcastically. Ron and Clara both gave him an unsure look. He opened his right eye slightly and saw them looking at him for an explanation for his sarcasm. "You do realize what this means right?" He said, closing his eye afterward. "...What? What does it mean?" Ron asked.

Spike sat up, unfolded his arms, and returned his legs to their normal position. His voice was quiet and delicate, but it still sounded loud, cutting through the silence of the room. "It means... That no matter how much we think we're safe, no matter where we are, or what we're doing, they will find us. Those... monsters... the ones that erased our memory, the people we escaped from... They will track us down, and they will either kill us or imprison us again. Or maybe they'll erase our memory again too, so that we forget everything once more. I'd imagine they're pretty pissed at us for escaping. I saw that look the dude with the long coat gave you, Ron. We can't let them capture us again. I'm not going back there." Ron and Clara both looked at him with their eyes wide. "They won't capture us. I'll make sure of that." Ron said. "Good." Spike replied as he closed his eyes again. "I think it's about time to go to sleep." Ron said, looking out the window.

Spike stood up and stretched his back. "With those people on our tail, one of us is going to have to keep watch." He glanced at Clara who was looking down at the carpet again. "Who's going to have to do it?" Ron asked as he turned away from the window. It was now pitch black outside, and the only light in the room came from the T.V. which only had static on the screen. "Personally, since Clara had already had such a pleasant naptime all day, I think she should do it." Ron walked over to Spike. "But she seems really scared, even of us, you can't expect her to-" Ron was interrupted by Clara's voice. "Um... I'll do it. I don't mind..." Ron and Spike looked at each other. "There you go." Spike said with a smirk. "Where... will I have to keep watch from...?" Clara asked, standing up. "Hmm... Well the rooftop would be the best place..." Spike said as he started walking towards the stairs. "I'll take you there if you want." "Um... ok, I guess..." Clara said, following Spike upstairs. After he turned the T.V. off, Ron followed them.

There was a small working lamp upstairs, so there was still a little bit of light, only just enough to be able to see in the darkness. Ron peeked in a room and noticed the large bed. "Dibs on the big bed!" He shouted as he ran inside. "What?! No way, I already...! ...Ah, whatever." Spike shouted, just a few feet from the room that Ron had gone inside. "So... Where's the roof...?" Clara asked, standing behind Spike, waiting for instructions. Spike turned around and took a deep breath. "This way..." He walked towards another door and opened it. It was dark in here as well. "These stairs lead to the roof. You'll have to feel your way up using the rail." "Thanks..." Clara said as she quickly went inside and up the stairs. Spike stared at her. He found it odd that she went up the stairs so quickly, even though it was probably more dangerous on the roof than it was inside. "Remember, if anything happens, give us a holler." Spike said as he started to close the door. Spike heard her say "I will..." just before he closed the door. He walked over to the room that Ron was in and opened the door. The room had white paint on the walls that was chipping in a lot of places, with flakes of it on the dull yellow carpet. The carpet had red stains on it in a few places and the carpet itself didn't really smell nice. "What the hell, Ron? This is my bed, I found it!" Ron sat up and said "Oh well. Unless you want to sleep in it too, you're gonna have to sleep on the couch, because I'm not moving." Spike gave a deep sigh and looked to his left and noticed something he hadn't noticed before because it blended in well with the paint. It was a closet. Ron saw him staring at it. "I'm not sure if I wanna know what's in there..." He muttered. "But I do..." Spike said, walking over to it. He grabbed the handle with Ron watching curiously, and pulled on it as hard as he could.

Chips of paint flew off as the closet doors burst open and something big landed on the floor, and Spike dodged it just in time. "Well, would you look at that...?" Spike said proudly. On the bland carpet lay a white, medium size mattress, with a folded up dark blue blanket in the closet along with a light grey pillow. The mattress, blanket and pillow were fresh and clean. Much cleaner than the bed Ron was sitting on. "How convenient..." Ron muttered bitterly. "Heh... There isn't a sheet, but I can live with that." Spike dragged the mattress to another corner of the room, then went back to grab the pillow and blanket. Ron leaned over the edge of the bed and turned off the lamp. "Goodnight, I guess." Spike said quietly. "Yeah... Goodnight..." Ron turned over and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes just a few hours later. It was still really dark inside and outside, but he could see a little bit because his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. He couldn't sleep. _I might as well take over for Clara... _He thought. He got off the bed quietly, so as not to disturb Spike. He crept over to the door that was slightly open and squeezed between the space. He could barely see anything in the hallway. _Ugh... okay, I'll take over for her if I can even get to her. _He thought, angrily. His small fingers on his right hand started to tingle. He thought nothing of it, but then it became annoying. _What is going on?! _He thought as he stared at where his right hand would be in the darkness. Then, suddenly there was a spark in the palm of his hand. He jerked his head back, farther away from his hand and stared at it in amazement. In the palm of his hand was a bright spark of electricity that appeared to float in his hand. It lit up the hallway entirely, and he could see where the door to the stairs was located. _Now that's convenient... _He thought, with a smirk on his face.

He made his way to the door that led to the roof. He opened the door and headed up the stairs, with the spark still bright in his hand. When he got to the top of the stairs and felt where the doorknob was, he shook his right hand and the spark went out quickly. He opened the door and peeked outside. The moonlight lit up the area. Clara was leaning on the short stone wall at the edge of the roof. "Hi..." She said calmly. Almost like she knew it was him. "I... couldn't sleep..." Ron said as he walked on the gravel towards her. The rooftop was almost bare, with a lone electrical box in a corner with groups of wires spilling out of open parts of the damaged metal. "I know. I wouldn't expect it to be possible after what you went through escaping." Ron looked over at her. "I thought you were shy? Or scared?" Ron asked. "Why would I be?" Clara looked over at him, her eyes shining under the moonlight. "Uhh... Well, you didn't really talk much..." Ron looked away from her and down over the edge of the stone wall to the street below. "Sorry for that... I should've communicated better. But I guess I just wasn't ready for it. So maybe I was shy at first, but not anymore." She looked up at the moon. "I've been thinking..." Ron's eyes looked in her direction but his head didn't turn. "About what?" He asked her. "About how we don't remember anything before being in the laboratory. I've just... Had this weird thought..." Ron turned away from the stone wall and to Clara. "What weird thought?" Clara turned from the stone wall too. She stared him in the eyes, and Ron suddenly had the feeling that whatever her thought was, it would be a shock to him. "Ron..." She started. "What if they... Created us?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"That's ridiculous..." Spike said as he paced the dark carpet of the living room. It was morning now, and both Ron and Clara were sitting on the couch, confident in Clara's theory that the ones they escaped from were also their creators. "It's perfectly possible, if you think about it." Ron said, looking over at Spike, whose back was turned. "Maybe," Spike said, turning around to face them. "But I highly doubt it." Clara looked up from the floor. "It makes sense... Because, um... If they created us, it explains why we, um... Don't remember anything from our past..." Clara returned to staring at the floor.

She must still be shy, or at least around Spike, but not Ron because she had already talked to him the night before. "It looks like it's the only thing we have to go on, so even if it isn't true, we might as well believe it because it's the only thing that makes sense." Spike was standing next to the window, looking outside at the dim morning light that lit up the abandoned and ruined city. _It's almost too quiet in this place... _Spike thought. _It's just too confusing as to why they haven't found us. We only walked a few miles... _As if Ron could read Spike's thoughts, he said "It's weird how they haven't found us..." Spike glanced at Ron, and then walked over to the kitchen chair Ron brought into the living room and sat down on it and let out a sigh. The brown leather of the chair was ripped in some places, and the wood from the centre of the seat was missing so Spike sank into it a bit. "Yeah... It is weird." Spike said as he turned his head back to the window. "Oh yeah, and there's something I need to tell you both." Ron said, standing up.

Clara and Spike both looked at Ron. Ron held out his right hand, and out of nowhere, the spark reappeared. Clara and Spike stared in amazement. "What the... How the hell are you doing that?" Spike asked. He got up off the chair and walked over to Ron to have a closer look at the small floating ball of electricity. Clara got up off the couch and glanced over at it too. It wasn't glowing blue, like electricity should be. It was glowing yellow. The spark was making a low buzzing noise in Ron's hand but it wasn't hurting him. "That's... Cool..." Clara said. She sat back down on the couch, still staring at the spark until Ron shook his hand so it went out. "It helped me see in the dark last night on my way up to the roof." Ron sat back down on the couch too, but spike was still standing up. "What were you doing up there...?" Spike asked, sounding almost like Ron had defied him in some way. Ron looked at Spike. "I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to take over for Clara." After a brief moment of silence, Spike said "Okay... That makes sense."

Spike sat back down in the chair, and nobody talked for a few minutes. Spike's ears suddenly perked up, and he made a face that clearly showed he was scared. "Is something wrong?" Ron asked, looking over at him. Clara was looking at him too, confused. "Hide." Spike said in a frightened voice. "Why would we have to-" He was cut off by Spike. "I said _hide_!" Ron and Clara both quickly got off the couch and ran into the kitchen. Spike ran over past the window and ducked under it so as not to be seen and peeked through a crack in the wall. Driving slowly along the road past the apartment was a white van, with the letters "E.C.P.F." marked on the side. Behind the letters was a sideways oval shape that had grid lines on it making it look three-dimensional. It drove by slowly and spike saw a figure in the driver's seat looking around. _Good thing Ron closed the garage... _Spike thought.

The van moved so slowly past that it felt like an hour or so until it was finally out of sight. Spike let out a sigh of relief. That must have been their captors coming to look for them. Who else would it be? Spike turned from the window and walked into the kitchen. "Guys, it's clear!" He shouted into the empty room. His voice echoed in the hallway. No answer. "Hello?" He called again, but there was still silence. He walked down the hallway and to the room on the left that had the foul stench. There was light coming from cracks in a metal hatch in the floor. He walked up to it slowly, and was sure that Ron Clara were inside.

Ron suddenly burst from the hatch and slightly frightened Spike. "Spike... You better come down here and see this." Spike was still plugging his nose when he shut the hatch above him after he ducked in. He followed Ron down a small passageway. The stench in the room above remained there, so whatever it was, it was definitely in that room. Ron opened a steel door and they walked into a large room with metal walls. "Whoa..." Spike said as he gazed all around the room. There were a few desks and computers and one big computer with the screen turned off.

Clara was trying to get it to work. There was a strange device in the centre of the room that gave a low hum as it rotated. "What is all this?" Spike asked, amazed. "That's what we were trying to figure out." Ron said as he started walking over to the big computer where Clara was. "Any luck?" He asked her. "Not yet... But it shouldn't be long now. Almost looks like someone just ripped a bunch of wires out with their hands..." Clara had reconnected most of them using some electrical tape found in one of the desks, but there were still a few thick wires spilling out onto the floor in front of them. "And then there's that thing in the middle of the room." She said as she ducked down and reconnected another smaller wire. "I don't know what it is, but I feel a slight tingling when I go near it..." Ron said as he looked over at the rotating metal cube held in place by a part from the floor that shot up to connect to it, and one from the ceiling that hung down to connect to the cube. "Must create a magnetic field... Just as I thought." Said Clara as she pulled some more electrical tape from the spool and wrapped it around a thick wire. "Oh yeah, what was upstairs that made you yell at us to go and hide?" Ron asked walking over to a worn, white chair.

"There was a van that drove by..." Spike replied. Ron sat down in the chair. "Seriously? Could it have been... _them_?" Ron asked. "Probably was. But whoever they are, they were definitely looking for us. And the van had kind of a logo on it that read E.C.P.F. I wonder what that could stand for."

Spike walked over to a desk and leaned on it. There were more chairs but spike seemed to be too lazy even to just walk across the room and bring one back to sit on. "How did you know?" Ron asked. Spike looked over at him rather quickly. "How did I know what?" He asked. "About the van... How could you hear it but we couldn't?" Spike closed his eyes. He was tired as well it seemed. Perhaps he didn't even get enough sleep last night either. "I... guess I just have good hearing." Spike really didn't know what else to say. He didn't even know he had extraordinary hearing up until now. "Have you guys searched this place?" He asked as he stopped leaning on the desk and walked over to Ron. "Only a few drawers. Not much... There's most likely some things we missed, so it couldn't hurt to look through a few more of them." Ron tilted his head back and closed his eyes. "Well, I guess I might as well look then."

Spike walked over to one of the five desks in the large metal room and checked the drawers. Nothing was inside. At the fourth desk, he opened the last drawer and saw something inside. It was a small dark red book with gold lines near the edges. It looked like a journal because it wasn't very thick. It only looked to have maybe one hundred pages or so.

"Hey, I got something over here, guys!" Spike walked back and Ron opened his eyes. Clara stopped working with the wires and stood up and turned around to see. "Oh boy, a book." Ron said sarcastically, and closed his eyes again. "Looks like a journal... What's it say?" Clara asked. "Uhh... I haven't read any yet." Spike answered. "I flipped through it and most of it is blank. There's only a few pages of writing on it." Clara looked over as Spike opened the journal.

_January 22__nd__ 2057_

_I have finally developed the first stage of the organism. It's growing surprisingly fast, and part of it has already learned how to replicate to anything I put near it. My experiments near completion after so long of researching this bio-chemical with amazing abilities. The Saliaxx is nearing completion with only stages two and three left. At stage three, it should be able to replicate things of much greater magnitude, much bigger than the apple I tested. The apple was not a living creature however, which is what I want the Saliaxx to make. There is still doubt that it will not be able to replicate a life form because Saliaxx does not replicate to a living thing without a soul present. I need a spirit to make it complete. I hope my decision to use my own soul for this work will be worth it._

"That's... odd..." Spike said, flipping the page. He was highly confused. "Saliaxx?" he asked. Clara nodded. "Sounds like whoever wrote in this journal was using some kind of bio-chemical called that in order to make a living being. It doesn't even sound like that's possible." Clara said as she started reading the next page.

Spike let her take the journal. "I don't feel like reading anymore. You take it if you want." Clara took hold of the journal. "Thanks..." She said as she watched Spike walk over to Ron. She kept reading the journal and noticed that before the journal entry they read, there was an indication of pages before it along the inside of the book. Someone must have ripped the pages out. Clara read the next entry which was set a few days later.

_January 26__th__ 2057_

_The organism has reached its second stage. It's learning to replicate some new things, including a mouse. The mouse it created was dead however, due to there not being a soul. This is still great news because it's a determination that the Saliaxx can create each major organ without making a mistake. Even with the mouse lifeless, I dissected it and came to the conclusion that the heart would function properly if the mouse was alive. This also means that Saliaxx can be used to simply make body parts for people who need them, and will be able to literally give people perfect and healthy organs._

Clara looked over to the right page. _This is pretty interesting... So this place was his laboratory then. _She looked oddly at the words on the next page. The writing was almost scribbled, as if someone had written them down frantically then hidden the book away in the desk, and fled the lab.

_February 3__rd__ 2057_

_They have found me! I don't have much time, but I will try to perform my experiments elsewhere. They must not get the Saliaxx! They wish to only use it for their terrible deeds! I will carry it all with me to the new laboratory, where they will never find it, or me. I have just finished the Location Protector, and turned it on so their instruments could not detect any of my equipment. Even with that machine on, I cannot take any risks, and I must flee. Once the Saliaxx is done, I will find a way to stop their operations. They plan to use the Saliaxx to make creatures to destroy the earth's major cities and take control. I have hacked into their database, and what I discovered is that they are designing some type of giant stone golem creatures. Hundreds of them. If they get the Saliaxx, their plans will come to fruition._

"Well..." Clara said aloud, closing the book. Ron and Spike both looked over at her, with confusion clear on their faces. "I guess he didn't do such a good job of protecting the Saliaxx." She said.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Back at the building that Ron, Spike, and Clara had escaped from, the man in the trench coat was still furious, yelling at his colleagues about how easily the three escaped and how it was their fault because they weren't at their proper posts. "But sir-" Argued one, but the man cut him off. "_Enough!_" They all had their heads slightly tilted toward the ground. The man walked alongside a line of the soldiers. He was bald, and wore glasses, and didn't have any facial hair. Yet he was the most intimidating person in the room, even though the soldiers all had guns.

"How dare you let them escape!? They may not pose much of a threat to us now, but that doesn't mean they won't be one in the future! Just because we chose what they have knowledge about doesn't mean they can't learn things again!" He walked more slowly, and his voice was somewhat softer. "If they find out what we're trying to do, our plans may be ruined. They've escaped here, and concealed themselves so well; our infrared devices can't even find them." A soldier spoke up. "That means they must have gotten a hold of technology to protect them somehow..." The man was suddenly angry again. "This is exactly what gives them an advantage! They couldn't have gotten that far. I've had scouts look through most of the entire city, and we still haven't found them."

The man eyed the long line of soldiers, and then he sent them away to patrol.

"Excuse me sir." A slightly and raspy voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw another creature. Only this one didn't look like the three that escaped. It was white, only slightly shorter than the man, had a blue lightning bolt in its fur from its tall white left ear all the way down to its eye, giving the impression of a scar, along with another similar pattern on its chest, and two red claws protruded from above each hand. The man walked closer. "Ah, Sev, there you are. Where were you when all of this was happening?" Sev paced a bit beside the man. "I was doing what you asked of me. I was commanding the Embedded Outpost in the Grand Canyon." The man nodded. "Right. I'm not sure how I could have forgotten that. Anyway, what is it?" Sev folded his arms. "Well... I just wanted to suggest that we move to the main Headquarters." The man scratched his chin. "Yes, I've been meaning to go back. But not until the three are returned here. Their memories must be wiped clean again first." Sev turned from him. "If you say so sir. Just don't come crying to me if one of them has got you by your throat. That is, if they find out what you did." Sev walked away down the white hall. The man followed and caught up with him.

"What are you talking about?" He asked Sev, as they walked along. "Oh, you know what I mean. Don't pretend you don't." The man did know what Sev meant, he couldn't deny it. "Of course. Well, I don't care about them. They're useless. Meaningless. Failed experiments born from that Saliaxx chemical that maniacal Professor Lokkar discovered." "And yet, they have the intelligence and physical ability to escape the very confinements of this facility." Sev replied, causing the man to go silent momentarily.

They kept walking, turning a corner. "Sure, you call them 'failed'," Sev continued, "but I call them remarkable. They may be failed in a sense that they're not what you wanted the Saliaxx to create, but they appear to be quite cunning to escape so quickly and easily. It wasn't exactly simple to discover that their genetic information was already in the Saliaxx we got from that old geezer's laboratory. It's a shame there isn't any more of it." The man stopped in front of a big door. Sev stopped as well, and turned to face him. The man spoke once more. "And yet, unlike them, you haven't run away." Sev gave a wry smile. "Not a problem. I'm much wiser you know. I know that if I did, I'd regret it. And life here has proven to be quite exciting." The man smiled slightly. "I hope it has." Sev walked away further down the hall, turned a corner and was gone.

The man typed five numbers onto a keypad and the door opened. Inside was a large oval-shaped table with white chairs all around it, capable of spinning but bolted in place on the cold white tiled floor. Nobody else was in the room though. He walked inside and the door shut automatically behind him. He faced another keypad and typed another five digit code in and the door clicked, indicating it was securely locked. He walked over to a large computer. The monitor took up most of the wall, and the keyboard spread across most of the side of the room, littered with blinking buttons, levers, and notches. He pushed one of the buttons and the screen lit up and went to the login page, showing his name, and a space to put his password.

His name was Dusk. It suited him well, because he was dressed in all black. He typed in his password and logged in. He pressed a few more buttons and a screen popped up with one of the soldiers on it. "Have you found him yet?" Dusk asked the soldier. The soldier was in a barren, deserted wasteland. A gust of wind blew sand at his face, but it didn't bother him because his face was covered by the armor and goggles. "We haven't located him yet sir. I'm certain we must be getting close though." Dusk was angry again. "How could you possibly know that?! You're in a damn desert! Stop trying to sound like there's still hope. There isn't. There never was. I'm almost certain he's either dead, or moved to the other side of the world, beyond our reach."

The soldier was quiet for a moment, and then he finally managed to say something. "But sir... We found metal pieces in the sand that look to be from some type of vehicle." A feeling of surprise came across Dusk. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?" The soldier answered quickly. "Because it still isn't entirely confirmed that they're from something of importance." He said. "Just keep looking. If you find _anything more_, be sure to contact me. Is that understood?" The soldier nodded, and Dusk pressed a button and the screen returned to the supercomputer's main menu, removing the soldier from the screen. Dusk selected the option that read _Radar_.

There was nothing marked red on the map of the city. Then there was a small blip of red. And another. And another. Dusk stared at the area until they stopped entirely. The red represented electronic equipment that was not identifiable. _That must be where they are... I have you now, you pests._ He thought. He marked the coordinates of the red blinking with a star. Even though it was tempting to send tons of troops to the area at once, Dusk didn't want to send them somewhere for no reason, just in case it turned out to be a fluke. He printed out a picture of the map with the mark on it. He called three of the soldiers to come to the room he was in. Dusk unlocked the door for them so that they wouldn't run into it and hurt themselves, although it would be funny. They all showed up rather quickly, as if they knew that taking long to get there would result in punishment. "Listen up, men." Dusk ordered. "There has been a small red blinking mark at this area." He handed the middle one the map.

"I want you to simply find out what it is. It's an indication of technology, electronic equipment of some sort. There isn't supposed to be any other than ours, which is what makes this, suspicious." Dusk turned back to the computer. The three men were still standing there. "Go." Mumbled Dusk, sounding slightly annoyed.

_This may be it... _He thought. _If we can get them back here to the lab and into their tanks, it will be one hundred percent certain that I will not be stopped. But as long as they're alive, that chance of defeat still hangs there. Watching. Waiting. I've already failed once, I can't fail again._

Ron and Spike and Clara were still in the basement of the apartment. "Got it!" Shouted Clara, getting the attention of the two. They all looked at the big screen as it flickered on, revealing a blank screen. Clara tried pushing buttons, but a few of them changed the brightness of the screen, and made some images of distorted shapes appear, until finally she pushed a button that brought up a radar, similar to the one that Dusk had on his supercomputer. "Whoa..." whispered Ron as he walked up and stared at the screen. Spike walked up to the computer too, and they all gazed at it in astonishment.

"That white dot..." Clara began. "That must be where we are." Spike wasn't that impressed by the image on the screen and he turned away after a short time and went to go sit down. Clara was still working out other controls as Ron watched the results of her actions on the monitor. There weren't many things that happened, other than an electronic equipment detector being activated, which proved to be useful not long after it became functional.

Clara noticed something on screen that frightened her so much that she stood up and backed away from the computer a few steps. Ron looked at her worriedly. "Are you ok?" he asked. "Th-that..." She pointed at a red blinking dot moving slowly along a line on the map. It indicated something with electricity, most likely a vehicle. Spike got up from his chair and walked over to the computer to have a look. "What is that thing?" he asked, not even sounding worried at all. "It looks like another van... I'm reading its internal navigation system now..."

Ron and spike stared at her intently as she pressed buttons on the keyboard. Her eyes went wide. "Well? What is it?" Spike asked, impatient. "Whatever it is..." She backed away from the computer. "It's coordinates are set for this building. It's coming for us."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"What are we gonna do?!" Ron was panicking, pacing fast across the dusty lab floor. "Can't we use that car to get away?" Spike asked Clara. "It's already too late, we would be within view and they would give chase... It's clear that they don't know for certain that we're here. If they did know, more troops would have been sent, but I'm reading only three life forms inside the vehicle." Ron stopped pacing and faced Clara, his voice more calm than before. "What's our best chance then?" He asked, unsurely. "Simple," Spike said, walking over to a desk. He picked up his shotgun and cocked it. "We fight back." Clara wasn't too fond of his idea and gave him a disapproving look.

He noticed this look and responded to it. "I'm not gonna hide from those bastards." Spike snapped. Clara looked surprised. "Ok... Do what you two will, but I'm staying down here." She said. "I think I'll fight them too... I do have a gun after all... But that would cause noise... I guess I'll use my knife since I want to be stealthy about it..." Ron was suddenly tough about the situation.

They all looked up at the map and realized that the red blip had stopped moving, and it was right outside the building. The soldiers must have started towards the building on foot by now. "We have to go." Spike said quickly as he headed back upstairs. Ron followed him, stopping only for a brief moment at the doorway to glance back at Clara, whose eyes were on the computer screen. He hoped she would be ok down here by herself. But it was a silly thought... Of course she would.

The three soldiers made their way up to the building. The first one kicked the door open after only a few seconds and they all headed inside. The first soldier made a few gestures and the other two went to different areas. The second went upstairs, and the third went to the kitchen. Soldier three was remaining almost entirely silent walking through the kitchen with his pistol up in front of him, held by both hands. He started walking towards the hallway, unsure about what may lie ahead in the rooms. None of the soldiers were completely geared up in their usual full armor, they only wore a few plates here and there, and each only had one pistol. Soldier three went to the left room, looking in it for a little while, though there appeared to be nothing. He backed out from the doorway of the left room, so much that he was in the right room's doorway with his back still turned to it.

He was about to turn around to look in the right room when something caught hold of him. He felt a furry hand cover his mouth tightly, and before he could even react, Ron sliced his throat open with a knife and pulled him into the room quickly, with blood spilling everywhere out of the soldier's neck. Ron threw the soldier to the ground, facing up. He made a horrible gargling noise as Ron went back to the doorway. He peeked outside into the hall and saw nobody. The coast appeared to be clear. Ron gave a heavy sigh as he looked back at the soldier. He was clearly dead now, with a huge puddle of blood leaking all around the upper body of the soldier, all coming from his neck. The thin carpet absorbed some of the blood but the puddle kept expanding.

Ron thought for a moment that maybe the soldier didn't deserve to die. He was probably just following the orders given by whoever commanded them. But then again, Ron knew the three soldiers were here to kill or capture them and bring them back. No matter what way Ron saw it, they did deserve to die, in a sense. Ron could hear someone in the kitchen. He quickly dragged the body to a place in the room that was not visible from the doorway. The blood was most likely visible, but it's not like it would be uncommon to see blood in a place like this anyway. Ron stayed in a corner of the room afterwards, hiding in the darkness, occasionally hearing the faintest footstep.

Spike was trying to be stealthy too. He was hiding in the first room on the right upstairs. He could hear the footsteps of a soldier coming up the stairs. He thought about how Ron said he would try and be stealthy about killing a soldier. Spike thought over this and determined that it would be a good idea for him to be stealthy as well. He placed his shotgun on the ground quietly, and thought of a way to kill the intruder with his bare hands. Choke him? No, he might break free. It had to be a quick kill. Snap his neck? Yes, that sounded about right. He would snap his neck somehow. But how exactly?

How would he get behind the soldier when he was walking in Spike's direction? Maybe if the soldier passed the room, he could sneak up behind him and kill him. But would the other soldiers downstairs hear? Maybe Ron had silently killed one already, and there would only be one left if Spike's kill was successful. He could hear that the soldier was much closer now, maybe just starting down the hallway. Spike quietly backed away to a corner and hid in the darkness.

The soldier's head peeked in the doorway. It stayed there for about ten or so seconds. Spike didn't exactly know if he was concealed enough, so he held his breath and stood completely still against the cold wall. The soldier's head retreated back into the hallway. He must not have seen Spike. Spike stopped holding his breath and breathed normally again. Spike's fur was dark grey, so that must have helped to camouflage him in the corner of the room. Spike slowly made his way back to the doorway and just slightly peeked outside. He saw the soldier advancing slowly down the hallway, his back turned, and his gun drawn. If Spike was to kill the soldier, it had to be done now. He took a deep breath as quietly as possible, and crept out of the doorway and into the hall.

The soldier didn't notice him at all, and continued slowly down the hallway. Spike caught up to the soldier very slowly. They were both almost at the end of the hall when Spike quickly grabbed the soldier's head and twisted it to the right, snapping his neck and instantly killing him. The soldier crumbled to the floor making a few thud sounds. Spike turned around to see if any other soldier was there. There wasn't anyone else in the hallway, although he thought that there soon would be. He dragged the body into one of the rooms, then headed to the stairs and sat on the top step, holding his shotgun across his lap. He didn't see anyone downstairs, not even a shadow. All Spike could do was wait.

Ron was still hiding in the corner of the room when he heard the sound of metal squeaking. It was the trap door! The soldier must have gone inside! Ron started to panic again, just as he did when the soldiers arrived. What if the soldier had killed Clara, right then and there? What if he was going to capture her? Well then the soldier would have to get past Ron again, and he wasn't about to let that happen. A short moment passed, but to Ron, it felt like an hour. He heard the sound of muffled screams coming from below. They were Clara's. He crept closer to the doorway. The soldier had come back up already and was heading down into the kitchen when Ron stepped out of the doorway, with his pistol drawn in his right hand. "Hey! Let her go!"

The soldier took notice of Ron and ran out of the kitchen and into the living room. Ron quickly followed after him. The soldier stopped at the front door just a few feet away from the T.V. and had his gun up and pointed at Ron and had Clara by her neck firmly under his left arm, almost choking her. "Tell you what, you miserable little pest..." The soldier said in a raspy voice. Ron was extremely angry at the guy for taking Clara. Angrier than he probably should be, yet he couldn't figure out why. He had only known her for the past 2 days, but for some reason, it felt like he had known her for years. It was a strange feeling. "You let me take her, and I won't shoot you." Ron didn't really look like he approved of the soldier's offer. But what could he say to something like that? Clara struggled to say something. "Ron... Let him ta-take me... Don't get killed." Ron was more upset than angry now. "I... I..." Ron let out a sigh and hung his head down.

He was disappointed in himself for giving up so easily. But still, what could he do anyways? The soldier had a gun pointed at Ron and Clara under his arm by her neck. He could easily get away. "Yes, that's it..." The soldier's raspy voice continued. "I'm amazed at how easily you're giving her up after all this time, despite everything you two have been through." Ron was surprised, and had his head up again. "Wait... What?" He asked the soldier. "You don't remember? Oh right, the memory wipe... Well I know a lot of things about what happened to you, you know. I took part in the mission that helped to create you." "So we were created by you people..." Ron mumbled. "Clara was right..." The soldier heard him even though he mumbled. "Yeah, she always was the smart one."

The soldier backed up closer to the front door, which was open. Clara looked at Ron in a way that she hadn't before. Once again, that feeling came back It was almost as if Ron and Clara had known each other for a really long time. Although the two of them, plus Spike, only technically even existed for a few days. Maybe there was something more, something that they just weren't seeing. Ron was sad, angry, and confused now. Why would this soldier even tell them all of this? About how he was assigned to assist the mission that led to their creation? It didn't make any sense. Ron's arms were hanging at his sides and his pistol was aimed towards the ground. He dropped it onto the carpet and had a sad look on his face. "Oh don't worry..." The soldier continued. "I'm sure that Dusk won't have her killed... At least... Not any time soon."

The soldier backed towards the open doorway more, but the back of his head bumped into something metal. It was the barrel of a shotgun. "Going somewhere?" Spike asked with a smirk.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Clara was freed from the grip of the soldier and she went and stood next to Ron. Ron dragged the kitchen chair to the centre of the room. Spike forced the soldier into the chair and tied him up with some rope Ron found in the garage earlier that day. Once the soldier was fully restrained, Spike tugged off the soldier's helmet and mask, revealing a man with short, light brown hair, and cold green eyes. The soldier clearly wasn't happy about being tied up, mainly because it now appeared as though Ron, Clara, and Spike had the upper hand now.

"Tell us what you know." Spike demanded. The soldier wasn't really threatened enough. "I don't know anything!" The soldier replied. Spike hit him with the butt of his gun, drawing some blood from the soldier's nose. "Don't lie! You said you were part of the mission that resulted in our creation, so you'd better tell us what you know..." Spike started circling him with the shotgun pointed at his head. "Or you could have chunks of your head scattered across the floor, if that's what you'd prefer." The soldier was definitely intimidated now. "Fine! Fine, I'll talk!" Spike smirked. "That's what I thought... But first... Who the hell are you?" The soldier spoke up. "My name's private Tanner Gibbons." Spike was even more curious now. "So what, it's like an army or something?" "Hardly..." Tanner replied. "What is the E.C.P.F.?" Spike asked. "The E.C.P.F. is the organization that I work for. It stands for 'Experimental Creature Productivity Facility' and yeah, you three were created there." Spike continued to walk around Tanner. "So Clara was right after all... Hmm..."

Ron and Clara both looked at each other as Spike demanded more answers from Tanner. "Tell us all of what you know... And fast. We don't have all day." Tanner gave in to this demand rather quickly. "All I know is that we were told by the big man, Dusk, to find this old professor guy and steal something from him, something called Saliaxx." Clara's eyes lit up. Ron saw this reaction and gave her a questioning look, but she just kept looking at Tanner, curious about what else he had to say. "We ended up stealing the Saliaxx stuff..." Tanner continued. "But something was wrong with it... Saliaxx apparently has three stages... But when we got the Saliaxx, it was only at stage two. Even though it needed to be at stage three to create Dusk's golems, he took a chance with stage two golems, and that's where things went wrong." "How wrong?" Spike asked. "You see how this entire city is in ruin? _That _wrong. The golems wouldn't obey dusk and they went out of control... There were hundreds of them... Most of this entire planet's major cities were entirely destroyed... Hard to believe that was only five years ago... And then just recently, Dusk made you three out of the last of the Saliaxx that was stolen from the professor. Dusk was just curious as to what genetic information was already in the chemical, so he decided to bring it to life, and, well... here you are."

Spike seemed satisfied with the information Tanner had given them. Ron spoke up. "What did you mean by what you said about me and Clara 'being through a lot' together?" Tanner looked up at Ron and spoke quietly. "They took human souls. There were many candidates for the experiment, so it's hard to say whether you two even knew each other or not... But honestly, I know nothing more than that, I swear." Clara finally decided to say something, and she said it with utmost confidence. "Wait... Spike, remember that journal entry? The one the professor wrote about him having to use his own soul for his work?" "Hey, yeah... I guess that actually makes sense now..." Tanner started questioning them, surprised by the mention of a journal.

"Wait, what? Journal? You found Professor Lokkar's journal?!" Spike didn't like Tanner's attitude. "We're the ones asking questions here." "It's just that..." Tanner began, "Dusk has been looking for that guy's journal for years!" "Why?" Ron asked. "_Because Dusk doesn't know how to advance Saliaxx to stage three_... He wants to find Professor Lokkar and force answers out of him, or find his journal and use that instead, so that he can make stage three golems that will obey his every command, and take over whatever is left of the human race..." "Seems like Dusk is out of luck." Clara said. "The journal didn't contain any entry about how to advance Saliaxx to stage three, plus the professor fled this place, like he saw you guys coming." "The Location Protector..." Tanner muttered. "What?" Spike asked. "That cube thing in the basement?" "Yes!" Tanner said. "He must have used that to avoid detection from our equipment. That smart little bastard..."

The room was silent for a brief moment, but then Tanner suddenly had a nervous and confused look on his face. "What's the matter?" Spike asked. Tanner just looked around anxiously and didn't verbally respond at all. "Heh, just as I suspected. You're expecting your buddies you came in here with to show up in here and save you, right?" Tanner just looked at Spike, shocked, as if Spike knew exactly what he was thinking. And apparently, he did. "...What... What have you done to them...?" Tanner whispered. "Gee, I don't know, what did we do to them Ron?" Ron suddenly looked up, because he wasn't really paying attention, although he did hear what Spike asked him. "I cut the guy's throat... Killed him in a few seconds." Tanner had an even more scared look on his face. "And I snapped a dude's neck upstairs." Spike said triumphantly. "We clearly win."

Tanner just seemed shocked that Ron and Spike were even capable of killing anyone. "That was a stupid thing to do." Clara said. "Why?" Spike questioned. "What else were we supposed to do, give them a grand tour?" "No... It's just that Dusk is now sure to notice the absence of his troops after a little while, and realize that we're probably here." Spike suddenly realized the mistake they made. "Oh, shit..." He said. Tanner laughed a little quietly. Spike heard him and got angry. He hit Tanner with the butt of his shotgun another time, effectively drawing more blood from his nose to run over the dried blood from earlier. He got ready to hit Tanner again. "I'm warning you, you stupid fu-" "Spike!" Ron was suddenly angry at him. "What?" Spike lowered his gun. Ron gestured for Spike to come over to him. They spoke quietly so that Tanner couldn't hear.

"What are you doing?" Ron whispered. "Hitting the guy because he laughed, what does it look like?" Spike replied, keeping his voice in a whisper as well. "Just don't hit him too much, we could use him." "What could we possibly use him for? We've practically drained the guy of all he knows, he's useless." Ron couldn't deny this as much as he wanted, because even he knew that Spike was right. Spike continued talking in a whisper, with Tanner, shaking and still bleeding from the nose, looking at them the whole time this conversation was happening.

After a small moment of silence, Spike whispered once more. "I hate how the E.C.P.F. thinks it's funny to send some troops over here to capture us, like we're some sort of stray pets... Oh well... They'll have what's coming to them soon enough..." Clara didn't hear them. She knew the two were talking but she was about five or so feet away from them and tuned them out by choice. "But think about what Clara said too..." Ron whispered to Spike again. "Dusk is going to notice that the two soldiers are dead and he'll send his whole damn army here!" "Well then we'll send this guy back to the E.C.P.F. to tell them that there was an accident or something and that's why the two other guys died, we'll grab some stuff, and then we'll get out of here as soon as possible just in case he rats us out." Spike seemed a little too confident now.

Clara heard this part though and walked up to them. They all kept talking quietly so that Tanner wouldn't hear them, even though he no longer seemed interested because he was just staring at the floor. "We shouldn't leave here. This is the professor's laboratory, and it has a supercomputer... We should try to figure something else out..." Spike had already made up his mind though. "Just gather whatever data you can from that computer and put it all on a device that can be read by all other computers. Grab that journal from downstairs too. It's too late to try and figure out anything else. We need to leave soon... Very soon." Spike appeared to be right once more, because Clara gave out a light sigh and nodded in agreement with him. "Well, Ron?" Spike whispered again. "What do you think?"

Ron remained silent for a little bit, and then whispered his response. "I think... I think it's the best thing we can do right now..." Spike smiled, happy that Ron and Clara approved of his plan. "So you both agree? Great!" Spike turned to Tanner. "There's still something I want to know..." "...What?" Tanner sounded angry now, and even surprised Spike with his attitude. "You said they used human souls... Does that mean we all used to be human?" "Yes it does... Technically." Tanner replied. "Who... Who am I?" Spike asked in a softer voice. "Do you know who any of us are, or where we lived or anything..?" "No I don't... I don't know anything about you okay?!" "You _do_ know something! Tell me!" Spike demanded once more. Only this time, Tanner was defiant, and didn't give in to Spike's demand for answers. "_No! _I don't know anything you idiot!"

Spike was furious now. He hit Tanner with the butt of his shotgun once more, drawing a little more blood. Tanner was silent for a moment, with his head down, but then tilted it back up slowly, with an angry look on his face. If Spike was intimidated, he didn't show it. Ron and Clara watched this all happen from near the couch area. "Okay... I'll tell you what happened..." Tanner said. Spike was surprised at this and lowered his gun and listened to what he had to say.

"We... _Killed them brutally. _There was no mercy!" Spike was shocked again, even more this time. "Wh- what?" Spike seemed a little scared. It didn't show physically, but his voice was a little shaky now. "We killed so many people... You were one of them! You and your family! We broke into your house and killed without remorse! We killed you, your parents, and especially your little sister! Shot her right in the head as she was hiding in her closet, with no afterthought! She begged and cried for us not to do it, but we didn't listen! We were ruthless, okay?! And you know what? I still don't regret it! I don't regret putting an end to your family! It's too bad that out of all the people we killed to get souls, only yours, and those other two's were actually used in the experiment! Ha! You're a lost cause, Spike! You always were!" Spike was very sad and angry now. This was the first time he even showed real emotion since he gave Ron a sad look when he was in the tank at the E.C.P.F. building. Looking at Spike, Ron thought it might have even been possible that spike suddenly remembered something. Maybe Tanner was telling the truth, and all the memories came rushing back to Spike.

"You... son of a..." Spike started, his voice shaky. "Aw, what's the matter?" Tanner asked. Spike started shaking more and gripped his shotgun more tightly. Tanner continued talking. "Can't you get the words out? Ha! I shouldn't expect you to be able to! Your little sister was in danger but you ran off into your bedroom, and didn't bother to even try to save her! And what did that get you?! An extra five minutes to live before we got to you! That's it! You never were a brave one, Spike, you know tha-" "_SHUT UP!" _

Spike lifted the barrel of his shotgun up to Tanner's forehead and fired, creating a burst of blood flying in all directions and sending chunks of the top of Tanner's head all over the carpet. After the echo of the shotgun firing finally escaped the room entirely, Tanner sit there hunched in the chair, the top of his head missing and dripping a large amount of blood all over him. Spike still held his shotgun in his hand, although his hand was shaking a lot more now. Ron walked over to Spike, avoiding the gory mess on the floor. "...Spike?" Spike just looked at the dead soldier.

Clara walked over too, just narrowly missing the pool of blood from Tanner. "I... Just..." Spike was clearly very upset. Ron noticed that Spike had tears in his eyes. Despite all of Spike's efforts to hide his sadness, he just couldn't help it. "I remember..." Spike backed up from Tanner's body. "You remember your past life?! Before the laboratory...?" Clara asked. Spike nodded, and he slowly walked over to the couch and sat down carefully, his shotgun shaking in his hand. "I... Remember everything... But... Now I wish I didn't..." Ron and Clara both sat down beside him and comforted him.

"So... All of what Tanner said was true?" Ron asked. "Yes... It... It was..." Spike was still sad, but then got an angry look on his face. "It's... His fault..." He whispered. "Uhh... What?" Ron asked, slightly worried. "Dusk..." Spike continued. "It's... It's his fault... I'll kill him... Whatever it takes... I'll do it... For my family... And especially... For my little sister."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Ron and Clara sat beside Spike for a while until he couldn't bear the sight of the dead body in the living room anymore and headed upstairs. Ron and Clara both cleaned up the bodies and blood as best as they could throughout the next couple of hours, hiding the three bodies in a dumpster behind the apartment. Spike just sat upstairs in his bedroom, thinking about how to get revenge on Dusk. It was Dusk's fault that Spike's family was killed, because he gave the order to his soldiers to kill them. And for what, to use their souls for some experiment? _Wait... _Spike thought. _That must mean that... They could have my family's souls stored somewhere... So... I could revive them somehow... _

It became obvious to Spike, that in order to bring his family back to life, using Saliaxx was the only possible way. But how would he get any Saliaxx? Get captured purposely? No. Dusk had to be killed and they had to take over the E.C.P.F. building somehow. The three of them weren't ready to do something like that though. To Spike, the day seemed to last double the amount of time than it normally would. His mind was filled with thoughts of revenge and anger, towards Dusk, anyone else who sided with him and just the E.C.P.F. in general. Ron poked his head in the doorway.

"Are you okay, Spike?" Ron moved his whole body into the doorway. "I just remembered my family getting killed in cold blood with sub-machine guns, oh sure, I feel dandy." Spike was sitting on the edge of the big bed with his face buried in his hands. "I'll take that as a no." Ron muttered. Ron walked slowly over to Spike. "There's more to your life than just those moments... Try to remember the good things..." Spike's eyes were visible, and he just opened them and gave Ron an unpleasant stare for a few seconds before closing them again. "There were no good things. And you're doing a bad job of cheering me up." "Oh, come on! There are surely some good things! Nobody's life is _entirely_ miserable..." Spike lifted his head out of his hands. "Well, mine was." Ron was unconvinced. "What about school? You had some good times there right?"

Spike got upset again. "Don't even get me started on school... I was bullied a lot... Had very few 'friends'... Most of which wouldn't even partner up with me when our teacher said we had to work in groups... Hardly anybody purposely sat next to me too. I was always the one sitting next to my 'friends'. Always... I was always picked on and pushed around. _I'd like to see anyone push me around now!"_ Spike grabbed his shotgun and fired it at the wall, causing small chunks of drywall and chips of paint to rain down onto the carpet. Spike laid the shotgun back on the bed softly. "I've been through a lot... I wish I didn't remember anything about my past life now. What about you, Ron? What if there are horrible memories from your past life that would ruin your current one if you remember them?" Ron thought about this for a moment. "I guess that's just a risk I have to take... And I know what you're thinking. You're thinking of finding your sister's soul and using the Saliaxx to resurrect her, aren't you?" Spike was taken aback. "How... did you know that...?!" "I thought it was obvious given the facts of the situation..." Ron started. "Saliaxx can be used to create living beings but needs a soul to make it complete. When they killed your family, they took their souls. I think they might have them in some sort of storage vault somewhere... I doubt they'd throw away something as valuable as a human soul..." Spike lifted his head up a bit. "Yeah... I guess you're right... Well then, that's just what I'm going to do. I'll bring my sister, and the rest of my family back."

Clara ran from downstairs up to the doorway of the room on the second floor, worried because of the gun shot. "Is everything okay?" Ron looked over at Clara, while putting his hand on one of Spike's shoulders. "Spike's just, uh... letting off some steam." Clara gave a sigh of relief and after a moment turned back to the direction of the stairs and said, "You guys need to come down to the basement, fast." "Why? What's wrong?" Ron asked. "We need to get out of here... It's like I said before. This 'Dusk' guy is sure to notice that his soldiers have been killed and he'll either come here himself or send a squad that's a dozen times bigger. So get whatever things you've found and meet me in the basement. I need to use the supercomputer to check a few more things before we go." Clara headed downstairs and Ron and Spike followed her. They went through the living room, past the kitchen and down the hall and to the room on the left. Clara lifted the hatch and went inside. Ron and Spike headed in slowly.

Clara walked up to the supercomputer and scanned the map again. She had figured out how to alter the radar's range, so the map was zoomed out. There were no red blips on the map this time, not even with the much wider area that the radar was now able to show. Clara was confused. "Hmm... This is really odd... It's been hours since those soldiers arrived here, but there's no more activity... Almost like Dusk doesn't even care." Ron and Spike were watching the radar as well. Ron turned away after a moment to see if there was anything else in the room they may have missed. He noticed something that neither Spike nor Clara had noticed before. A metal door on the far side of the room, painted the same white color as the wall to blend in. It was a simple door made of thin, rippled sheet metal. Ron started walking over to it.

"Where are you going?" Clara asked Ron as he walked away. "I see a door over there. I'm gonna go check it out." Spike watched Ron go over to the door, but Clara resumed working with the supercomputer. Ron put his hand around the edge of the thin metal and pried open the door. Chunks of drywall and paint fell from the corners of the doorway. The light from the basement provided little visibility. But it was still enough for him to see the box on the shelf. It was a wide, dark box with a lock on it. Ron pointed his pistol at the lock and fired, busting the lock open instantly. The sound of the gunshot caused Clara to look over her shoulder, and she eventually turned fully around after a moment as Ron brought the open box into the room.

"I have no idea what this is... Looks really neat though..." Ron set the box down on a table and Spike and Clara walked over and looked inside. The inside of the box contained a blade type weapon. The blade was wide and had a bit of a curve to it, and was attached to a short, sleeve-like metal part, as if you were supposed to put your hand inside. After the 'sleeve', there were a few more mechanical parts, including a long, high tech clamping device. Ron reached into the box and pulled out the weapon. The word "Zen" in bright red letters was written on the tube where an arm was supposed to go inside. The tube had an opening though, so the hand would be out and visible.

Ron put his arm inside and past the opening at the end of the tube. Just then, the clamps adjusted to him and gripped down tight on his arm. "What the-?!" He said as he jumped back. The blade started rotating backwards, lengthwise on his arm. His arm was in the way of the blade but it kept going. As soon as Ron thought the blade would stop at his arm, it still kept going, travelling right through his arm, and he felt no pain at all. He wasn't even able to pull his arm out. The blade started spinning faster and faster until Ron gave a flick of his wrist out of fright, and the blade stopped and clicked into place. Then there was silence. Spike and Clara were standing a bit farther from Ron, with their eyes wide. "What the hell is that thing...?" Spike asked. "Well... It says 'Zen' on it... I can only assume that it would be called the 'Zen Blade'." Ron replied, still staring at the device.

Ron gave another flick of his wrist, and the blade rotated backwards fast. He flicked again, and the blade clicked into place once more. "Hey, that's kinda cool..." He said with a grin. "Let me see that..." Clara said walking back over to Ron. She looked at the device for a moment, especially focusing on the clamping devices on Ron's arm. "I see..." She began. "Looks like that part of the Zen Blade on your arm is actually used to de-materialize a part of your arm entirely, allowing the blade to travel through, without pain or feeling at all." There was something else in the box, and Spike picked it up. It was some sort of a sheathe to put the Zen Blade in.

Ron took this from Spike, and using just his left arm, strapped it onto his back. Ron rotated the Zen Blade again, made it stop, then put it into the brown leather sheathe to see if it would come off. Luckily, it did. The clamping devices released, and Ron's hand was freed from the tube. Even with all of the metal, the blade wasn't that heavy. "Aw come on..." Spike said. "Why don't I get any cool weapons?" Clara started walked back to the supercomputer when a loud beeping started, which caused her to run over to it instead. "Uh oh..." Ron began. "What's with that scary noise thing?" Ron and Spike both ran over to the supercomputer as well. "This isn't good..." Clara said. There were red blips on the map now, although they were far away. "Looks like they finally decided to send out more..." Spike muttered. "Three more..." Clara said with a sigh. "How much time do we have?" Ron asked turning to the exit door.

"We have about seven to ten minutes before we would be visible if we tried to leave. They could change their speed though, so if they go any faster, we'll have even less time." Ron gave a heavy sigh. "Looks like I'm going to have to distract them then..." Ron said. "What are you planning to do?" Clara asked, turning her head. "Just get in the car..." Said Ron. "You'll see."


End file.
